“A tale astonishing and improbable. Ego! Madness! Tesla! Turn-of-the-century bon-vivants and engineering-savvy Martians! And, at heart, the very human longing for a better world. Impressively researched and perfectly executed, The Martians is a fizzing terrific read.”
— Mary Roach, author of Packing for Mars and Replaceable You
“There Is Life on the Planet Mars” ―New York Times, December 9, 1906
The Times headline was no joke. In the early 1900s, many Americans actually believed that we had discovered intelligent life on Mars. The Martians―a truly bizarre tale reconstructed through newly discovered clippings, letters, and photographs by bestselling science writer David Baron―begins in the 1890s with Percival Lowell, a wealthy Harvard scion who was so certain of his Mars discovery that he (almost) convinced a generation of astronomers that grainy telescopic photographs of the red planet revealed meltwater and an intricate canal system, declaring “there can be no doubt that living beings inhabit our neighboring world” (New York Times). So frenzied was the reaction that international controversies arose. Tesla announced he had received Martian radio signals. Biologists debated whether Martians were winged or gilled. Martians headlined Broadway shows, and a new genre called science fiction arose. While Lowell’s claims were savagely debunked, his influence sparked a compulsive interest in Mars and life in outer space that continues to this day.
“David Baron, America’s premier scribe writing at the intersection of astronomy and social history, captures the Red Planet Craze in all its quirky and fabulous weirdness: The grand hopes, the far-out theories, the paranoia, the science, and the pseudo-science, too. The Martians makes for enlightening and insightful reading, but it’s also just plain fun.”
— Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of The Wide Wide Sea and In the Kingdom of Ice
“With The Martians, David Baron has ventured into the past, back to the dawn of modern science fiction, and returned with a vivid tale that is equal parts entertaining and instructive. This is a lively chronicle of a forgotten scientific debate, enriched by eccentric characters and a skilled author’s thoughtful consideration of his subject.”
— Darrell Hartman, author of Battle of Ink and Ice
“Acclaimed science writer David Baron beautifully captures all the drama, humor, and sheer craziness at the turn of the 20th century when America went bonkers over the possibility of life on Mars. Well researched and thoroughly entertaining.”
— Marcia Bartusiak, MIT Professor of the Practice Emeritus and author of The Day We Found the Universe
“David Baron’s exuberant book tells the story of a seemingly alien race—Americans of a century or so ago—that, on closer inspection, bears an uncanny resemblance to us today. The rich had gotten fantastically richer, life was unsettled by an array of new technologies, and in their frustration people began looking elsewhere for answers. Things seem to have come full circle: at least some of us are again thinking about Mars.”
— Russell Shorto, author of Taking Manhattan and The Island at the Center of the World
“Based on meticulous and original research, gifted science writer David Baron has provided, in brilliant prose, a fascinating account of the scientific and cultural phenomenon known as ‘Mars mania.’ . . . A book anyone who loves Mars is sure to love.”
— William Sheehan, Mars historian and coauthor of Discovering Mars
“In his skillful tour of the era, Baron introduces us to a colorful cast of astronomers, inventors, and kooks, as they projected both the dreams and prejudices of a rapidly transforming society out into the solar system.”
— Peter Brannen, author of The Ends of the World
“David Baron has written a gripping and engaging chronicle of the ‘Martian canals’ epoch of exploring Mars. . . . His book reveals the amazing backstory of what led to today’s Mars exploration program and the place that Mars holds in our collective consciousness.”
— Bruce Jakosky, lead scientist and project head, NASA’s MAVEN mission to Mars (2003–2021)
“David Baron has written a scintillating and revealing story of Percival Lowell’s claims of artificial canals on Mars and the impact of these claims on science and popular culture. . . . The book is an original contribution to scholarship that will also appeal to a broad audience.”
— Steven J. Dick, Former NASA Chief Historian, author of Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact